


Our Present Business is General Woe

by trashofalltrades



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: All of the spoilers, Angst, F/M, Gen, Infinity War, Peggy Carter Flashback Sene, steve just wants to be happy damn it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-29
Updated: 2018-05-29
Packaged: 2019-05-13 23:29:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14758329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/trashofalltrades/pseuds/trashofalltrades
Summary: The Peggy Carter flashback scene Infinity War should have had but didn't.





	Our Present Business is General Woe

**Author's Note:**

> Much thanks to ChimaeraKitten for both beta reading and listening to me scream about this topic for the past month.

Steve watched as Thanos casually tossed aside each member of his team, discarding them like last week’s garbage. Nat, Sam, and Bucky all landed hard, tasting dirt, in a last-ditch attempt to give Wanda enough time to destroy Vision’s stone. With the team down, Steve did the only thing he could think of—something he had been practicing since his days in Brooklyn—which was to charge head on at someone much bigger than himself and pray for a miracle.

He dug in his heels, trying to push Thanos back, only to be launched airborne just as the others had. He felt himself slow in the air, wisps of red seeming to shimmer across his field of vision, surrounding him.

It was a surprisingly soft landing, almost peaceful. As soon as he opened his eyes he could see that he was alone, right on the edge of the tree line. There were things he needed to do, he remembered. Important things. Stopping Thanos, that was it. Where was the purple shithead? He struggled to his feet, deciding that the others must have managed to get back up and travel down the path some ways, but before he could follow them, someone called his name.

“ _Steve_?” the voice asked, high pitched and breathless and sounding entirely too familiar.

He whipped around, letting out a strangled cry as soon as he spotted Peggy. She was decked out in her full army gear, a gun slung over her shoulder as always and her trademark red lipstick decorating a brilliant smile.

“It’s really _you_!”

He smiled back, slightly confused. “It’s me,” he confirmed, “but…what are you doing here?” her had a strange feeling that something was out of place, but he couldn’t quite tell what it was.

“I’m here to save your sorry ass of course,” she said, slightly bemused. “It’s my part time job after all. And I want a raise.”

His face softened as he looked at her, ignoring the friendly jab. “C’mere” he said, pulling her into a hug. He had missed this banter and their give and take. It reminded him that there was someone on his side.

“It’s been so long,” she whispered, her voice muffled in his chest. “Much too long.”

“I know Peg. I know—I’m sorry.” He held her closer, wishing he could make the pain in her voice disappear.

When she finally steeped back she let out a shaky breath and asked, “So, who needs punching?”

Steve managed to grant her a small smile before the thought of facing Thanos again instantly sobered him. Too many were already bloodied, and it would only get worse if he wasn’t stopped.

He forced down the panic rising in his chest and tried to hastily explain. “It’s Thanos— Peg, we have to stop him. He can’t get the stones, the destruction——” He grabbed her hand, beginning to pull her in the direction the others must have gone.

“Steve, Steve slow _down_ ,” she said with an exasperated laugh. “Did you not listen to the plan? Typical, I suppose.”

She smiled up at him. “Look here come your friends. You’ll be able to launch an attack from back here, catch him by surprise. Like how we used to take down Hydra.”

“What do you mean ‘my friends?’ We have a plan?”

A rustle in the undergrowth answered his question as Bucky emerged, guns at the ready. “Hey Steve. Ready to bash some heads?” He clapped Steve on the back before going to stand next to Peggy. The other Avengers all followed suit, Sam deciding to make a grand entrance with a flyover. Tony rounded out the bunch, flashing Steve a smile.

“Good to see you again, Cap,” he said, lowering his glasses. “Geriatrics ward let you out early for this shindig?”

Steve just rolled his eyes. “I’ve missed you too.”  

With everyone assembled, Peggy began reviewing the plan. “You can easily take him out if you work together,” she explained. “Aim for his weak areas.” She pointed into the clearing, where Wanda was still trying to destroy Vision’s stone, Thanos quickly approaching behind them.

“There. Go—now!”

They surged forward, Tony in front leading with taunts. “Hey!” he yelled. “Yeah, you—grape Fanta gone wrong! Get your ass over here!”

Steve smirked, running up along-side him. The group engulfed Thanos, all punching, shooting, and generally causing as much mayhem as they possibly could. Thor had the honor of dealing the final blow—A bolt of lightning that hit Thanos dead on, causing him to fissure and crack.

“Serves him right,” Thor spat, watching as Thanos crumbled to dust.

Wanda turned towards them smiling, Vision gingerly sitting up next to her, rubbing his forehead. “It worked—look!” She held out the Mind Stone to Tony, letting him inspect it.

Steve surveyed the group, suddenly feeling odd, almost like an outsider, but that didn’t make sense.  He squinted, looking over to where Tony was dealing with the gauntlet and the stones, then over to Peter, who was gleefully reliving the play-by play’s.

“Did you see that Mr. Stark? Dropped him, piece of cake! Ever seen the Harry Potter movies? He crumbled just like Voldemort!” His voice seemed to glide and lilt, smoothing over any worries Steve could have possibly had while at the same time sounding entirely too energetic.

Steve spun in a circle, catching sight of Wanda again, casually laughing with the rest of the group and listening to Clint’s bad dad jokes. It felt so _perfect_. Almost too good to be true.

He calmly turned to Peggy. “Hey, Peg?”

“Yes?” She grinned up at him, one eyebrow raised. “I’ll have you know you left your legs exposed below your shield again, but I guess I’ll forgive it. What do you need?”

“I…need to go.”

She shook her head, frowning at him. “Steve you can’t, we’ve only just won! Enjoy the victory for once.”

He glanced down at his feet desperately trying to avoid the look she was giving him. It’s not that he _wanted_ to leave, but a gut feeling told him that he shouldn’t be here, and certainly couldn’t stay. Everything felt like it was on edge, a split second away from reaching a tipping point and falling away. “I know, but I—”

She took his hands in her own. “The battle is over Steve, we can go home. _Imagine it_.”

Her voice verbrated through his head and their surroundings, everything disappearing the moment he tried to follow her command. He was alone in a clearing, Peggy gone, and it was then he knew for certain. None of this had been real.

 _Reality_. That was it—the reality stone. This was just a glorified flashback like the one in Sokovia. There was no future with her to imagine and so there was nothing here.

He should have known earlier. He should have known from the moment Peggy appeared before him, somehow unchanged when she had been dead and gone for two years. He should have known that there was no way it would ever be this easy, that there was no clear path to victory and certainly not one achieved this quickly. That there was no way the whole team was on good terms again. And then Wanda—Wanda should never have been smiling. Not after what she was being forced to do.

Peggy reappeared beside him a few moments later, now in a shimmering red dress. They were in the damn ballroom again, dancing to big band music under the crimson lanterns and crystal chandeliers “Stay,” she repeated over and over, as he turned and dipped her. “Give me the coordinates. Stay with me.”

“I _can’t_ ,” he said, pleading with her to understand. “You’re not _real_.” She reeled back like he had slapped her, dissolving into the crowd of dancers while trumpets blared.

The Avengers’ victory celebration took her place, his friends stretched, grotesque smiles and raucous yelling dominating everything else. Red Skull appeared in the shadows, his proportions all wrong, dragging Bucky along behind him by his metal arm and holding the tesseract aloft in his other hand.

“Don’t let me fall, Steve” Bucky begged, “Stay with me, don’t leave me with him.” Bucky’s arm stretched towards him as if it were made of elastic, never quite long enough to grab a hold of him.

Steve clenched his eyes shut trying to force out the images. It’s not real, he repeated, none of it was. He sank down onto his knees, drawing inwards as much as he could and trying to ignore the jarring images and noises that mocked him.

But he couldn’t _not_ see Peggy, standing a few feet away, her gun loaded and pointed directly at him. She looked entirely unamused, her mouth in a thin line as she said, “Let’s test that shield Howard made you.”

 

 

His eyes snapped open as she fired. He panted, chest aching from the unfortunate mix of broken ribs and old memories.

He heard the war cries from the Wakandans below and he could see in his periphery the rest of the team dragging themselves back up to fight Thanos again. _This_ was real. Not that it was much better.

He forced himself upwards, trying to shake everything off and get back into the fight. He staggered towards Thanos, only to be brushed aside again, this time landing at the base of a tree and staying down. He didn’t know how the others were doing. Probably not much better than himself.

In the distance he heard Wanda sobbing, her cries eventually drowned out by a bright flash of golden light that spilled over them, creating a wave of force that pushed him into the ground. She must have done it then; Vision’s stone must have been destroyed. He cautiously stood, leaning forward to peer out from behind the trees.  But then—then he heard Wanda scream. It was bloodcurdling, louder even than after Pietro had died.

The golden light appeared again. Again? Maybe just once. He didn’t know why he was so confused. He was pushed back to the ground where he stayed for a moment before he cautiously stood, leaning forward to peer out from behind the trees. How would they all know when Vision’s stone was gone? He assumed there would be an explosion, a force wave, something.

There was nothing, it was eerily quiet. Wanda must be done by now, he needed to find her— he needed to move.

The crackle of electricity stopped him. Thor, it must be, coming to finish the job. He lunged forward, ready to help, at the same moment that Thor screamed “NO!”

He sprinted towards him, gifted shield at the ready, coming to a grinding halt when he noticed a distinct lack of Thanos.

“Where? What happened?” He spun in a circle, catching sight of Wanda, kneeling by Vision’s body which now lay at her feet. She wasn’t smiling.

Thor looked down at them and then back up at Steve, his eyes haunted. “I—I—"

“Where is he?” he demanded, feeling his stomach seize.

Thor didn’t answer and instead looked behind him towards Bucky, who had jogged up behind them, nursing an injured arm. “Hey Steve—Steve?”

There was something odd, almost panicked about his tone. Steve turned towards him, only to watch as Bucky disintegrated, crumbling to ash. He scrambled forward, reaching towards him and only managing to grab a fistful of powder, the rest of it gently coming to rest in a pile at his feet.

“ _No_. No— _Bucky_.” It couldn’t be. He clawed at the dirt, as if Bucky would somehow sprout back up into existence. He couldn’t be gone, Thanos couldn’t have done it. They were supposed to have stopped him. Bucky was supposed to be better now, they were supposed to be permanently reunited this time.

He heard a strangled cry from Wanda, turning again only to watch the same happen to her, though she looked relieved, or at least merely resigned as she too was blown away.

Sam and T’Challa, Groot—all of them. Gone and crumbled into nothingness. He wondered if Tony and Peter were okay wherever they were. God, _Peter_. Too young, much too young for any of this.

This was what Thanos had wanted? This was his grand solution? It couldn’t be real. He refused to believe it.

“The reality stone.” He gasped, grabbing Nat’s arm and forcing her to stop staring down at Vision’s body. “It has to be. I had a vision when Thanos knocked me down. What if this is the same!”

She shook her head, lips trembling. “No. Look.” She pointed to where the racoon was screaming, destroying any foliage that lay within an arm’s reach.

“Ashes to ashes you fucking dumbass? I’LL KILL YOU! You’ll wish you had disappeared too!” He threw himself into the forest, one hand clutching a pile of ash to his chest and the other clawing a tree as he stormed by.

“Nothing’s warping when you contact it,” she said, gesturing in a circle. “There’s none of the shimmer.”

He watched, desperately hoping for her to be wrong and coming away disappointed, Of course she was right, damn her. It was all real. Which meant billions were gone and their team was gone and they had lost. And for some reason he had been designated as one of the _lucky_ ones. One of the survivors at the end of a tragedy.

He closed his eyes and wished Peggy would reappear again.

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I would be 100% cool with a four hour movie in which the Avengers, joined by Peggy Carter of course, (there is no marvel movie that can't be improved by the presence of Peggy Carter) just sit down and eat shawarma and talk through their feelings and are happy for the first time in a decade. But no. We had to go full on empty chairs and empty tables.
> 
> The title is from King Lear. Where everyone also dies.


End file.
